PEGASUS 2023: MEET THE NEW ‘GIANT KILLER’, SAME AS THE OLD BOSS

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL, January 29-2023 – Horseplayers might have gotten a clue about who might win the featured event right from jump when a Bill Mott-trained turf runner escaped from the also-eligibles and drew into the Pegasus Day lid-lifter and promptly got the money. Could he possibly book-end the card?

Once again at a mega-racing event, Mott, the second youngest horseman to have his name inscribed on a plaque inside the National Racing Museum and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, made his presence known…and often does so when it’s least expected. This happens too often to be coincidental.

The last big event day held in America was on the first weekend in November at Keeneland Race Course. Mott was there, and so were his charges at the winning post.

Mott’s horsemanship was responsible for making a storybook-ending come true, one that was celebrated as NTRA’s Moment of the Year 2022. It wasn’t Flightline who did that; it was Cody’s Wish, a lunch-pail of an equine athlete who, without much sizzle, always brought his game.

Cody’s Wish, conditioned by Mott with a big assist from young Cody Dorman, showed the courage of his namesake by winning a head-to-fetlock battle with three-time Grade 1 winner Cyberknife and taking the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile in dramatic fashion.

For an encore, Mott took a horse lacking in star power, but used Elite Power’s late stretch kick to power past rivals in the shadow of the wire, sealing a victory that yielded an Eclipse Sprint championship.

As above, Mott’s day started with Wonka having the good fortune to draw into the opener and pull away in deep stretch for the victory beneath Junior Alvarado.

Mott and Alvarado were off on the good foot.

Mott’s second winner required no luck, only a small piece of training genius. Until November 20, Mozay had never won a race but left Aqueduct a winner that day. She ended her season on New Year’s Eve, finishing second in a preliminary allowances at Gulfstream.

Mott weighed his options with the newly turned five-year-old and off an allowance placing entered her in the South Beach, an overnight handicap in which she carried low weight of 117 pounds and Jose Ortiz. She made the last run a successful one. Mott assessed the competition perfectly.

Now it was time for 13^th race finale, the $3-million Pegasus World Cup Invitational, and everybody knew what he had, Grade 1 winner Art Collector who had won half of his 20 lifetime starts, but who developed a foot abscess after the Lukas Classic which kept him out of the Cigar Mile.

“We had to scrap all our plans,” Mott explained, “so I told Bruce [owner Bruce Lunsford] we’re going to miss [the Cigar]. Let’s go to Florida.”

Prior to the Pegasus, Luis Saez was Art Collector’s partner. Saez won multiple stakes on him, including the Grade 1 Woodward and back-to-back Charles Town Classics. But Junior Alvarado got the call yesterday. The plan, and its execution, was seamless.

”We talked it over,” an excited Lunsford added, “I give Bill credit for this, he said we’re going to try something different.”

Alvarado won four stakes on Olympiad and was second to Flightline in the BC Classic and did so with tactical, first-flight stalking tactics. Mott played to Alvarado’s strengths and the presumed race dynamics.

His instructions: “Ride him just like you ride Olympiad.”

Which is exactly what Alvarado did, stalking the two California speed burners into the first turn following a clean, sharp jump from the stalls, and continued to tail the leaders through the backstretch run. Meanwhile, the balance of the race was shaping up with, frankly, many disappointments.

We had the sense that favored Cyberknife was in trouble when Florent Geroux appeared to give up his cover early on the backside to get out of the kickback. The Brad Cox charge began climbing a bit and never appeared to level off after that.

The going, and the competition, was a little too slick for Proxy who appeared on the scene far too late. Finally, after settling into best stride, he finished up very strongly and is highly likely to move forward next time.

And it was a disappointing Pegasus for Saffie Joseph Jr., too. White Abarrio is simply not fast enough to keep pace with faster, high-class types no matter how well he trains. Skippylongstocking was a commendable seventh, as not many Gulfstream races are won racing five deep throughout.

Art Collector’s biggest career victory came over a surface on which he had no experience. He relished it, obviously. And know that yesterday’s pilot has had quite the meet, with milestone career victory number 2,000 and a slice of the $1,680,000 that goes to the winning Pegasus connections.

As for Mott, he carries his racetrack with him wherever he goes; deja vu all over again.

On the Line will have more on the undercard races later this week